The Stepford Wives ** (2004, Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, Christopher Walken) – Classic Movie Review 1382

Nicole Kidman looks like she’d prefer to be somewhere else during director Frank Oz’s cheesy 2004 black comedy remake of the 1974 chiller about the too-perfect wives of a New England village.

The first half hour or so is quite funny, and Glenn Close and Christopher Walken are priceless as the Stepford bosses. However, the one-liners then start to run out of steam and, wavering between satire and farce, it all gets perfectly tedious after a while.

Paul Rudnick’s slack screenplay lacks the high level of needed wit and precision to pull this off. But, with this comedy concept, it was always going to be a mistake anyway not to trust the original Ira Levin material, though at least it’s mercifully 20 minutes shorter than the original.

Changes from the original film and novel include the dumping of the feminist message, in a role reversal in which it is the powerful woman (played by Close) who is the evil mastermind of the injustice perpetrated on other women, and a Stepford-drone replacement for the male partner of a gay resident.

It was a troubled production. John and Joan Cusack, slated to star in supporting roles, pulled out of the film and were replaced by Matthew Broderick and Bette Midler. After filming was initially completed, several changes were made to the new script, which created a number of plot holes, and the cast was called back for reshoots. Oz said ‘there was tension on the set’ and that he had ‘had words’ with Walken. Oz added that Midler made the mistake of bringing her stress from other projects on the set. He said: ‘I f***ed up… I had too much money and I was too concerned for the producers. And I didn’t follow my instincts.’

It took a reasonable $100million plus at the world box office, but its high production cost of $100million plus $46million for marketing and distribution made it a failure.

The film was shot in Darien, Connecticut, and New Canaan, Connecticut.

The original 1974 chiller proved a hit and has enjoyed an enduring reputation, so it was followed by Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980), The Stepford Children (1987) and The Stepford Husbands (1996).

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1382

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